


A Chance at Silliness

by OveliaGirlHaditRight



Category: Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Canon, Drabble, F/M, Future Fic, Multi, Oneshot, Written for Cloud's birthday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:35:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25923709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OveliaGirlHaditRight/pseuds/OveliaGirlHaditRight
Summary: Cloud and Tifa are killed by Genesis. But, despite this, Cloud finds near everything he could ever want in the Lifestream.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough & Cloud Strife, Cloud and His Family, Maybe slight Cloud/Aerith, Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife, Tifa and Aerith friendship, Zack Fair & Cloud Strife, Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19





	A Chance at Silliness

Cloud wasn’t sure where he was, exactly… In the Lifestream, he was pretty sure (though maybe eventually he’d find the Promised Land, that he was certain Aerith and Zack had made it to at this point).

The last memory he had, was of Tifa and himself… dying, when Genesis surprised them all, and Cloud and Tifa had had to push their children out of an exploding Seventh Heaven as the ground sank beneath them.

There was a part of Cloud, of course, that was upset that he’d seemingly broken his promise to protect Tifa. But he knew if he told her such a thing now, she would beat the living daylights out of him. Because to Tifa, there would have been no better out than risking her life to save that of Marlene and Denzel’s. And Cloud knew that he felt the same way.

He was with Tifa right now, in fact. And, for whatever reason, she was braiding Cloud’s hair, in this sea of never-ending white.

Or, actually… maybe that sea _was_ ending. Maybe they could even change the way things looked here? Because if Cloud focused enough, he t _hought_ he could make out the emptiness turning into an expanse of Costa del Sol, if he really focused.

Cloud imagined himself thinking of Seventh Heaven in a moment—to see if Barret, Denzel, and Marlene were doing alright—but thought better of it, when he realized he still didn’t quite know what was going on here. The last thing he wanted to do, was to appear as a ghost in front of the kids so that they’d never be able to let Tifa and him go.

“Does that feel good on your scalp, Cloud?” Tifa asked now, as she stopped playing with his hair, but rather began massaging his head. She even eventually went the extra mile and kissed his crown, and Cloud felt _loved_.

“That… _does_ feel good,” Cloud admitted. He thought he was probably going to lose his man card for having said it, but who really cared when you were dead? Especially since Cloud had long ago stopped being “ex-SOLDIER Cloud Strife”, but rather the dork he always had been and probably always would be. Even now.

“I’m just thinkin’ that if heaven is going to wait on this ‘giving us eternal bliss’ thing, we might as well start with it ourselves.”  
  
And Cloud didn’t think he could disagree with _that_ sentiment of Tifa’s. And instead, he pulled away from Tifa… but only so he could face her now, and tried to figure out how to accomplish some of the same things for her. Since she, too, deserved all the happiness in the world, of course.

He thought about taking her gloves off and kissing each of her hands as he knelt at her feet, and did just that.

After a pause (after Cloud had looked up at Tifa from beneath his lashes, and she took in his gesture with her mouth agape and blushed), Tifa spoke up about one of the things—or one of the people—they were both thinking about: “I hope we run into Aerith soon. If she were here, I’m sure she’d be better at playing with your hair than I am. Like, I’m sure she’d even have stuff to bedazzle your hair with somehow—and she’d call you ‘Miss Cloud’ again—and we could all have a laugh, as we begin our perfect piece of forever.”  
  
“…I’d like that,” Cloud admitted, blushing _himself_ now. Because, once again, he _wasn’t_ the cool guy, but rather the one who helped Aerith organize flowers and played tea for Marlene and Tifa both (since Marlene’s joy meant the world to Tifa, and she got a kick out of his being too good a dad, too).

“Good,” Tifa agreed, as she helped Cloud to his feet—but she seemed to be hiding that she was more touched by his words than she let on, if Cloud was reading her right—“now let’s go find Aerith, and even Zack, before she gets lost in trying to find _us_. You know how we all sometimes got separated and turned around on our journey together.”  
  
And just as Cloud’s thoughts of Costa del Sol had made it appear, Tifa’s ponderings of Aerith and Zack seemed to do the same for _them_.

And the pair was running towards Cloud and Tifa now, as fast as their feet would carry them, and Cloud found his own doing the same.

This birthday of Cloud’s… wasn’t perfect, because he’d unintentionally hurt Denzel, Marlene, and their friends in ending up here, and since he’d never get to play dress up with Marlene again (not until she got here one day, anyway). But it was near perfect, since Cloud would get to make two of his favorite girl’s day with a makeover—and probably Zack’s day, too—and after everything they’d been through, there was hardly more he could ask for than this chance at silliness.

Maybe they’d finally found the Promised Land, after all.


End file.
